Man, 24, found guilty of tot's torture death

NORTH COUNTY COURTS 
A Guatemalan man accused of torturing and killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son in 2005 was found guilty yesterday of first-degree murder and other felony charges in Vista Superior Court.

Jose Maurice Castenada, 24, also was convicted of torture, felony child abuse and assault on a child in a manner likely to cause great bodily injury in connection with the death of Cesar Razo.

The Superior Court jury also found Castenada guilty of a misdemeanor child abuse charge involving the victim's then-5-year-old sister and acquitted him of a second torture charge.

Because this is a capital case, the jury was dismissed for the rest of the afternoon and asked to return to the Vista courthouse today for the second part of the trial, called the penalty phase.

After listening to additional testimony — estimated to last about a day and a half — jurors will be asked to determine whether Castenada should be executed.

Prosecutors argued during the trial that Castenada, a gardener, beat his girlfriend, Maria Razo, and her two children in their Escondido apartment. They shared the residence on Bear Valley Parkway with another family.

Deputy District Attorney Lucy Weismantel said Castenada was trying to take a nap June 25, 2005, when Cesar began crying in a closed closet where he was made to sleep.

The prosecutor said Castenada fatally beat the boy in front of Razo and her daughter. The family's roommates heard the mother and daughter crying and caught a glimpse of the victim. They asked if they should call 911, but Castenada told them no.

After trying unsuccessfully to revive the boy, Castenada and Razo eventually took him to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. They told the hospital staff that he had fallen from a swing, the prosecutor said.

Doctors found more than 200 bruises on the victim's body. An autopsy determined that he had suffered two fatal blows: one that seriously injured his internal organs and another that broke the back of his skull.

Castenada's lawyer, Allen Bloom, argued in court that his client had no history of violence and that it was Razo who was physically abusive to her children. He also said that Castenada was gone most of the day the boy died.

Razo pleaded guilty in June 2007 to charges of voluntary manslaughter and child abuse and agreed to testify at Castenada's trial. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors dropped a torture charge.

Razo, 27, is expected to be sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison at a hearing scheduled for Aug. 21. She has been jailed since June 2005.